The Birthday Present
by Nor of Kiamo Ko
Summary: It's Penny's birthday, and what better present than a visit from Seaweed? Musicalverse oneshot. Sugary sweet, cottoncandy esque Peaweed fluff. Please R&R.


**A/N: I don't own Hairspray. It's that simple.**

**FINALLY some Peaweed fluff comes out of my brain. I think there are a few lonely little dust bunnies in there, too.**

**The Birthday Present**

**By Nor of Kiamo Ko**

Penny bit her lip as she tried to work through her geometry problem. _Two times the measure of the supplement of an angle is seven times the measure of the complement of that angle… What? _She groaned softly and scribbled out something she hoped was the answer. _I hate math…_

Mercifully, a knock came at her window just as she had struggled halfway through her homework. She grinned, dropped her pencil, and ran to open it, not even bothering to wonder who it was.

"Hey, baby." Just hearing his voice made her heart flutter, even without the addition of the kiss hello.

"Hi." She ushered him in. "My mother isn't home, she's still at dinner with the priest…" She quickly noticed that he was hiding something behind his back. "What've you got there?"

He beamed at her, but didn't say anything as he gently steered her toward her bed and made her sit. "Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Close 'em."

"Okay…" She closed her eyes and heard something rustle; she felt something in her lap.

"All right, you can look now." Penny opened her eyes and looked down. There in her lap were a bouquet of red roses and a long, thin box wrapped in shiny paper.

She gasped. "Oh, Seaweed!" She put her face in the roses (carefully—she didn't want to squish any of them) and inhaled deeply. "They're beautiful! But… why?"

Seaweed looked puzzled. "Well… it's your birthday, isn't it?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh… oh, Seaweed…"

"What?" His eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, no, no, it's just…" She sighed and pulled him down onto the bed next to her. Lacing her fingers through his, she whispered, "Can I tell you something?"

He put his other arm around her waist and murmured into her hair. "Always."

"This is the first real birthday present I've gotten in ten years."

He raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "Really?"

She nodded. "I mean, Tracy always brings me a dessert or something at school that she made, but I haven't gotten anything else in forever."

"Since you were _six_?" She nodded again. "Why?"

Penny took a deep breath. "Well, when my dad left, my mom went crazy. Crazier than she is now," she added, seeing the "well-_that_-was-obvious" expression on Seaweed's face. "She threw out everything that reminded her of him. We had to get all new furniture and everything.

"She even threw out the charm bracelet he gave me when I was five… then, a few weeks later, after she got so maniacally religious, she told me that we should mourn the day we were put into this world full of sinners and that I wasn't allowed to celebrate my birthday anymore."

Seaweed, suddenly remembering vividly every birthday party he had ever had since the age of seven, pulled her into a warm hug. "Oh, baby, I'm sorry. Will you get in trouble if she sees you with any of it?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't be sorry. The roses are beautiful."

He looked down at her. "Did you forget about the other one?"

"Oh!" She suddenly remembered the box and smiled sheepishly at him. "Briefly. Sorry."

He chuckled, pulled away from her, and knelt beside the bed, offering her the box. "Happy birthday, baby."

She smiled shyly and took it. "Thank you." Slowly she pulled the paper off the box and lifted the lid.

Her mouth dropped open when she saw what it was. She picked the gold necklace up out of its container and watched it sparkle in the lamplight.

"Oh, Seaweed," she breathed, looking more closely at the heart-shaped pendant twirling about on the chain. There was something engraved on it; she moved closer to the light so she could read it.

She gasped. The front of the pendant read "S+P" in fancy script.

"Sorry I couldn't get your whole name," Seaweed apologized sheepishly. "See, they charge by the letter."

"Seaweed, I love it!" She leaned over and kissed his cheek as she fumbled with the clasp. "Thank you so much! It must have taken you ages to save up for…"

"For you, it's worth it." He reached over and gently took the necklace from her. "Let me do it." He tenderly put the necklace on her, his fingers lingering at her neck and making her tremble.

Penny looked down and admired her present. "I'll never take it off." Suddenly she looked back up at him with a mischievous look in her eye. "I'll have to thank you for this."

He shrugged playfully and winked at her. "It's _your _birthday, remember? You get to do whatever you want."

She didn't say another word; she just grabbed him by his shirt front and gave him a kiss neither of them would ever forget.


End file.
